


Last hope in pandora

by DremoraDawn



Category: Borderlands, Tales from the borderland
Genre: Canon Divergence, FIx It, M/M, Moreplotthanpornbuthereisporn, Post episode 5, Tfornowratingwillspikeupassoonastheygetsexy, slowbuild
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-04
Updated: 2015-12-23
Packaged: 2018-05-04 22:47:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5351225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DremoraDawn/pseuds/DremoraDawn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This fanfiction taken place after helios crash in episode 5 vault of traveler and before rhys were kidnapped by strangers in episode 1 Zer0 sum. Rhys choose to keep the echo eyes and not crushing it. Then he bring jack back to live after becoming atlas president. And together they strive to build a better pandora. Handsome Jack way~ </p>
<p>I'm really bad at summary. So to sum up Rhys bby couldnt live without jack. so he bring him back from the dead and help jack restore pandora.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Rhys

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone, this is my first time writing and posting fanfiction online :) English is not my first language,i apologize for any error in advance.This take place after helios crash in episode 5 vault of traveler and before rhys were kidnapped by strangers in episode 1 Zer0 sum.

“Gather up kiddo for unforgettable story of how a simple act can turn the darkest rotten heart into pure again. Of those who have fallen and defeated can rise once again and conquer the world.

There once was a Hyperion corporation who set base on the moon called Helios. After opening of the first vault, it triggered the growth of iridium. A priceless ancient alien resources. Hyperion mine the iridium and plan to bring order to the savage planet. Through their leader handsome jack, he want to civilize Pandora once and for all by opening more vault. 

But handsome jack were killed by the vault hunter just after the opening of a second vault in attempt to awaken the warrior. And not soon later, Helios came crashing down to Pandora. No one know why it were destroyed. Some said, handsome jack ghost destroyed it. Some said vault hunter maybe it just malfunctioning but who cares. “

“But oh mister is this another vault hunter story? I do love a good vault hunter story “ The younger boy interfere raising his hand high.

“Shut up kid! Maybe but it doesn’t matter because I’m telling you anyway. This is a story about legacy of a fallen hero and a young man named Rhys.” Marcus continued with a grin.

\-----------------------------------

Pandora. An amazing place for research, excitement and thrill in a quest for hunting the vault unless you’re Rhys. A company man not a VAULT HUNTER. Running across the land from unimaginable horror group of bandits and skags.

Alongside him barely floating that dumpy, Rhys only robot companion. A gift from his former….tenant who resides in his head as an AI before all this event unfold. That tenant who happen to be the dead boss he worship.

You’re probably wondering why Rhys is sightseeing in middle of dessert, fleeing from the native local and wildlife of Pandora. Rest assured it all will be explained soon.

Last week been more than what Rhys could have handled or expected, stealing 10 million cold cash from Hyperion, team up with con-artist, fighting bandit , dodging moonshot, Helios crashing, handsome Jack trying to kill him and the list goes on. Nothing he would ever imagine doing in his life ever.

Oh and handsome Jack stuck in his head. More like AI..version of his dead hero which he convince himself that it might just be Pandora heat caught upon him but no. This thing is for real.

While escaping from bandits and skags across the dessert. Rhys found himself stumble across old haven, a dead town with Atlas old facility hidden beneath it. The same facility that they used to assemble Gortys.

At least it used to be until Athena massacre the whole scientist team. He hides himself inside, without his augmented arm and echo eyes. Chances of him surviving is just as low as finding a real vault key. Damned jack. 

Terrific. Rhys hand shivers as he buried his face in his organic palm. He could hear the sound of bandit vehicles slowly driven away. 

A man can only take so much. Hungry, thirsty, tired and angry. But there still a fight in him, wanting desperately to survive. He can start from scratch after all he did grabbed the atlas certificate from jack trophy case before he left the ruins.

He will show them all.  
  
Despite knowing the truth horror nature of his beloved hero. Rhys won’t deny that it didn’t change the fact that handsome jack… The HANDSOME JACK… Have always been an inspiration for him and will continue to be an inspiration for him. Despite how others might pursue jack as greed, manipulative, heartless, psychopath who won’t hesitate to murder and blackmail his way to success.

He disagree at least some part of him, minus all the stuff jack did. To him jack is a symbol of hope. That a man can achieve greatness if you willing to do what it takes.

After convincing the higher board of atlas, Rhys finally successfully fulfilling his childhood dream of owning a company. A mega corporation to be exact. Feels really good, like the rush you get when you find ice cream truck in hot day. Yep, that’s the feeling.

“Suck it jack “Rhys flipped his finger at a small picture of handsome jack he pasted on the wall. 

“I’m the CEO of atlas on Pandora “he proudly announced with a grin and hands against hips. His voice echoed through the empty room.

“..A CEO without any…employee…a one man company..” his arm soften against his side as he return to the working table , fixing old atlas machine with scraps of metals he had. 

Being the CEO of atlas for Pandora, Rhys have the right to request the board to supply him with money , scientist, soldiers, robots or anything that can aid him in rebuilding atlas. His request unfortunately were returned with roar of laughter and insult from the board.

”You wouldn’t last a week. I mean sure you can keep the fancy title of being CEO. But Pandora doesn’t interest us as much as they do. We gain less then what we ever sent down there on the shithole. But since you entertain us with your enthusiast, we will sent you some scraps. Enjoy your last day in Pandora. Don’t bother contact us again “the man laugh followed by woman snort. 

“Damn atlas. They all the same...” 

It only been 3 weeks, three weeks that feels like eternity. Enough to keep him awake every night. Paranoia, loneliness, regret and guilt for the innocent soul he sacrifices on Helios just to take jack down. He often wonder how Dr. Cassius survived in the dome being all by himself. But again that man is pretty weird. 

Rhys lost everyone Loaderbot, Yvette, Fiona, Sasha, Vaughn , Gortys , and handsome jack. Not in that particular order. First he lost Vaughn then Fiona, Sasha, Gortys, Yvette, loaderbot and handsome jack.

So, handsome jack….how he wish he could hear the man taunting him again. Wait…He don’t know why that thought just trigger in his head…maybe he is going crazy…maybe the lack of sleep have start to take its toll on him.

He was lonely to brink of insanity. Craving for human interaction. A simple conversation will do. Dumpy screeching noise doesn’t make much of difference. He tried to fix it. Only made it worse. At least it kept him from the edge. 

Pandora is practically a graveyard. The heat stroke is cruel, rakk dive bomb, bandit, psycho cannibalism, even the plant can kill and electrocuted you. It just stupid how dangerous this planet is yet people still inhabits it. They should put this planet in restriction zone. Not safe for anything.

Luckily old haven used to be a town where actual people live. At least it was once are. So there some water supplies, lots of thrash, some garden in middle of facilities where there edible fruits and more thrash. They should just rename this city Thrash Haven. 

For entertainment, Rhys manage to scavenge some magazine, with shit contain mostly propaganda against Hyperion.  
Most of time, Rhys is too busy securing the place. Fixing broken turrets, repurpose old TV into screen where he can observe every nook and cranny in old haven through the old CCTV installed. It was a lot of work for one man and a tiny robot. But at least it ensure Rhys survivability on Pandora.

Every night Rhys caught himself staring at his old echo eye implant on the side of his desk. Jack is gone for good. The man try to shove a robot exoskeleton into Rhys body then tried to murder him again after he escaped from the crash. Definitely there no redeeming quality of hero. But why does his heart against it. Innocent part of him who still dearly believe that the man is misunderstood. 

The way jack plead and knee before him begging not to send him back there. That’s not what Rhys would have expected not after what jack did nor what he expect an AI could do... Is it really an AI or is it a ghost? The AI jack self-conscience its feel too human, too real to just ignore. Like a man pleading for his life in a war. It doesn’t feel artificial like loader bot. 

Nakayama really outdone it, well not surprising since he is the scientist from Hyperion. But it trigger sympathy for jack. Which is the reason Rhys kept his old echo eyes instead of crushing it. It is the last and only thing that he had, connect him to handsome jack. He also didn’t want to go through Jack death for the second time. 

He still remembered how lost he was when the news of handsome jack death reach him. Vaughn, his best friend were trying his best to conceal it from Rhys together with Yvette. Knowing how much it mean to Rhys but it was impossible to hide. Rhys were devastated. He felt his whole world shattered. His beloved hero and inspiration is forever gone. It’s was one of the worse day in Rhys life.

“As..as..assinate” his voice cracks, hand trembling upon projecting the information in his arm. 

People were mourning for jack death. Some goes as far as committing suicide. Rhys saw Vasquez sobbing against a frame of handsome jack picture at the ceremonial queuing up among others who came to pay their respect. He tried hold back so much…thinking of how jack would mock people for crying and threaten to airlock them. 

No he going to save his tear for another day. The day he be as badass as jack. Rhys lay down a bouquet of white lily. And make a vow to pursue his dream, aiming for the stone that jack set for all and be just like him one day.  
Rhys gently caress the side of the echo eyes. True, everyone knows how great jack is but how many people actually know about who is jack before that. His past. Before he have the world on his fingertips.

The thing jack achieve within just 5 years amused Rhys. Jack whom he never heard before not even as candidate in line for next Hyperion president suddenly boosting out of nowhere and becoming the greatest president, Hyperion ever had. The man become trillionaire overnight and his production of e-tech weapon is ground breaking. There are rumors that jack used to work as an ordinary Hyperion engineer but at that time, he never bothered to find out more. All he know that a hero is born.

He read jack autobiography before but it didn’t explain much about jack past. Most of it just emphasize on jack greatness. Not that Rhys is complaining but Jack last conversation after the crash triggers curiosity. About his daughter, the people who he trust and betrayed him and whom he was before he became the great president of Hyperion.

Rolling out of his bed he reach for the computer gliding his finger against the keyboard as the yellowish light glow dim reflect against his skin. His curiosity is killing him. He want to know more about Jack. If he going to follow jack footstep, he need to know about his failure and success. He want to understand him. By understanding the past, he can avoid the chances of repeating the same mistake.

His eyes diligently absorbing all the information displayed, mostly is just article stating the obvious about how great jack is after he became president. None as jack before. Then it occurred to him what if jack… what if jack is not his real name. What if it just a persona.

Rhys runs jack name through the decipher program. Hoping to get potential variation. Going as far as hacking into Hyperion employee database. There hundred thousand name popping up. It’s ridiculous, the amount of Hyperion employee all across the universe. It’ll take a few days or maybe weeks to figure this out. But wait…jack last word mention that he had a daughter helps narrow it down to few thousand. Still it a lot but it will take couple of hours not day.

He activated his echo eyes. Running it through the list of name with jack and the list of name with employee who have a single child. Then his eyes stopped at a familiar name .Angel. Sounds like a name jack would gave to his kid. Rhys chuckles. The photo matched the one in jack office. But this can’t be… the father of this child is John… Not jack… Is he jack twin given their uncanny resemblances minus the no mask….hold on a second… He scrolls down the file, last place reside before Helios. Hera. 

Wife status: Dead.

Causes of death: classified 

Note: Mr. John request to be assigned to Helios headquarters after the tragic event in hera” Rhys continued read.

[John Hyperion Hera] 

Rhys type in the key word. Nothing turns up. He tried few other keys word. Nothing. Perhaps Jack removed everything about his past from echo net. He wasn’t going to give up that easily. A few hours later, Rhys unlocked an old archive from Hera public library database. The stuff he uncovered from the echo net caught him by surprise .An old news articles dated almost 20 years ago pops up. 

His eyes glued to the screen, consuming all the information and it was so surreal.

”No way.. that just Jack… I mean john without his mask ” 

The revelation bring him one step closer in understanding his hero. But how many of this are actually telling him the truth. Not altered lies of propaganda against jack/john if that his actual real name. How many other persona does this man had? Did Jack killed his own wife? 

No..It can’t be, Jack are passionate with his love one. He remembered there was different tone, a softer tone in jack voice differ from his usual one, when he shows his ex-girlfriend Nisha cowboy hat at the trophy case or when he mention his daughter.

Did jack himself erased everything on echo net to bury his past and merge as a new persona. After all you can’t trust everything on echo net. Everything can be made up and altered. With how advance the technology nowadays, it hard to differ the real and fake information.

Revealing jack past, got Rhys addicted. The deeper he research, more question keeps popping up. Most of it to Rhys, rationalize jack action and behavior. Not all of them but most of it. His eagerness in wanting to know more on jack past in understanding his hero grew bigger each day.

It consume so much of his time that each time he finished with atlas paper work or brainstorming new potential project, he end up find himself buried deep researching on jack past. He tried to forget about it. Kept himself busy with code. After all the information would be useless since handsome jack is already dead. There no benefit in uncovering a dead man past.

Or he could try to install jack into atlas system and then…. jack would probably try to kill him. But there no better way to know more about a man that asking the man himself. Is it worth it to bring back a man who want to take revenge against the world...

“No“ Rhys shook his head. It’s not worth it bring jack back. There is more cons than pros of bring jack back even as artificial intelligence. The man tried to murder him in multiple occasion. 

But what if he’s mistaken..what if the old news are true that jack or his old name john was just a misunderstood, struggling with inner demon after the incident in Hera. If it is, then Rhys is no difference then others who judge others by their actions before knowing what causing it in the first place. 

If Rhys going to be as great as jack or even better. To build a better legacy. He need to understand what cause jack to fall and rise. Maybe he can convince jack…that they share the same ideology, that he is always on jack side.

\---------------------------------------

  
He have only one shot for this. Rhys place the old echo eyes on table gently. If he mess up, he will lose jack forever and the information alongside it. Even worse, he could mess up the whole atlas system forcing him to find a new place…endangered his life once more. It clearly a huge risk. But there is no man succeed without taking a risk.

“ What do you think dumpy-buddy. Should I bring our old pal back ? “ rhys stared at the floating robot only to get a high pitch screeching sound in return. “ yep..still can’t figure that out.. “

Rhys wrapped the lose strands of wire onto a paper clips and hook it to the system port. 

“Hope this work “he took a deep breath as he watched the screen waiting for some pop up. None…

“ Jack..erm hey..Time to wake up… are you there? “Rhys tapped the side of the echo eye. Hoping it gave enough vibration to awaken the AI. 

The screens flickered with an installation symbols.

[Detecting unidentified object]

“ Alright , now we’re talking. Brofist Dumpy ! “ Rhys bump his fist lightly against the robot side. The tiny robot made a screeching sound.

[Intruder alert. Access denied]

“No…no” Rhys shifted his hand opening the backlog typing keys trying to overrun it. 

[Firewall engage. Alerting the security]

“Classic atlas…but you know what. I own you now. You wanna dance? hmm Let’s dance “Rhys finger tapped against the keyboard matching numbers and alphabetical gracefully. 

“Piece of cake, all those years of studying in did not go to waste. “He smirked. Few seconds later, the whole atlas facility went offline. Total pitch of blackness fills the facility. 

“ Goddamit no no no… The defense is down. The bandits will come. Fuck. Why did I do this in middle of the night! “Rhys breath hitched in regret. Thankfully dumpy provide a dim light barely for Rhys to see anything but at least dumpy is his insurance for now in case bandits happen to find their way in.

“Requesting back up power online! “ Rhys shouted and the whole facility light up again. It was worth it to build a backup power line in his office that can be activated through his voice. Yeah he is genius. Rhys sighed in relief. Although it might last for only for a couple of hours. At least it gave enough time for everything to be online again. Everything except the huge computer in front of Rhys.

“Oh come on! Seriously?! “Rhys smack the computer with his augmented arm. Did installing jack fried the computer system? Few silent moment later, the screen starts beep and flickered again. 

[Initiating H4ND50M3 74CK startup sequence. H4ND50M3 74CK activated. Hail to the king] 

“Yes! HAHAHA “Rhys laugh mixed with excitement, fear and little bit regret.

The screen flickering transition from yellowish orange light to bluish followed by a former familiar manically laughter. 

“hahah…ha…..Why do I get the feeling that I’ll probably going to regret this a lot…” sudden chill runs through his spine...as he reach for his stun baton secured to the back of his waist.  



	2. chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone , I'm so sorry for the slow update. I don't have internet at home. But since you've been very kind to me. I'll post two chapter today before the new year. Hope you enjoy it as much as i do ( /p v p )/ Any feedback and comment are appreciated. This fan-fiction is not beta-ed ? or proofread by anyone. I apologize for any grammatical mistake.

“Back so soon I see, so you want the continuation of the story. Sit back tight kid..Th “

“Mister“ the boy raised his arm cutting off marcus sentences.

“Why does Mister Rhys bring back Mister Jack. Isn’t Mister Jack is a bad man? “ he continued.

“ Look kid, It complicated. If you cut my word again, I’ll cut you little thumbs off “ he glared at the kid.The small boy went quiet.

“ Now, where was I. Right, so the company man choose to risk everything he had in order to awaken the dead king. His curiosities was overcome the risk to uncover what lies in the past. Was he insane to unleash the revengeful dead king to Pandora or is there more to it ? Who knows, but remember curiosity did kill a Cat.“  
\------------  
Darkness. A cruel confinement for a hero.

How did it end up like this… He was a hero, worship by others. He inspired, he bring civilize to Pandora. Everything that he build, everything that he sacrificed, it’s all gone. All because of people whom he trust and now his hand are tied as he watches his empire crumbles.

There nothing awaits him here. This is the end. Where he going to spend his life…forever .In the dark with nothing at all. No hot chicks, no vault, no shit, no angel… Fuck… this is FUCKING skagcrap. He is HANDSOME GODDAMNED JACK .And NO, he did not die killed by bandits! Or trapped in some ungrateful scums echo eyes for shit.

  
He could imagine of all sort of things his going to do if Rhys awaken him again. He will strangle the guy until his eyes pop out like pbft. Watching him struggling. Letting it sink to him, that it if you defy Handsome Jack order, you’re will die.

It would be his masterpiece. Hell, he will even display Rhys corpse as part of people who sucks in Opportunity art gallery.

Or better yet he could just skinned Rhys alive, tearing him limb by limb as skag or pyscho devoured him alive. His scream of agony will be like music to Jack ear. The most melodious and satisfying sound he would ever achieved even if it mean he have to die again.

  
\----------------------------------------------------  
It been maddening …he does not know how long time have past…nor does he have any clue of what’s going in real world. He hoped it’s the end of the world, so Lilith, Moxie, the filthy bandit, Rhys can die horrible painful death. Whatever happen to them, he hope their death are slow and as painful as possible.

How he wish he can just jumped out of this darkness and possessed a machine or anything. Like a ghost…But that not possible…He is NOT a ghost. He didn’t die at the hand of filthy bandit. No…his voice echoed.

  
Jack lie on his back floating aimlessly. Instead of thinking of a plan, his mind reflected on Rhys. Even when they first met, the young man offered eagerly to help get jack back up in Helios. A real asskisser. But hey he been proved useful and loyal on multiple occasion up till to helios.

  
The boy have fricking augmented arm just like Wilhelm. Maybe not like Wilhelm because he is strong. And Rhys is kinda wuss. But unlike Wilhelm, Rhys can be exploitable and to top it all, Jack doesn’t have to pay a single cent.

A little bit of tweaking and boom. He can be his secret plan. Someone who is so smart but naive, someone who idolized him and willing to do anything he ask. Someone who just hit rock bottom. Jack smiled mischievously.  
Rhys could have bring back his legacy. It was right under his nose all the time. He can be the secret weapon. Loyal ,intelligent ,kinda hot for guy, lil bit wuss but we can fix that. Great hair. With just a little push, he is perfect. He can train Rhys to be his little pet. Commanding everything and rhys would just obey.

  
He don’t have to ever hire a vault hunter again. It would be the best damn thing after attaching the destroyer eyes to the Hyperion laser. Maybe he can attach laser to Rhys too. That will be fricking cool.  
\--------------------------------------

Did Rhys forget about him…Is the boy is even alive?…He still can’t figure out why Rhys wouldn’t agree to the immortal suit idea. It’s brilliant and it’ll be just dream come true for Rhys. The boy wanted to be like him. So why not be him. It’s like killing two bird with one stone.

  
His genius mind and Rhys body with Namakaka immortal robot exoskeleton shoved in it, will be the best damned thing that ever exist on Pandora. They will rock Pandora. Wiping the bandits off, bringing civilization to Pandora while looking hot. Rhys is so stupid. So ungrateful. That little shit.

Maybe he went too far? No...no not happening. His handsome jack. He don’t DO mistake.

  
The young man did let Jack into his subsystem which is kinda awesome, creepy but mostly awesome. Whether it was intentional or unintentional, Jack doesn’t gave a flying crap.

He remembered how good it was to piloted Rhys body. No one suspecting anything. It’ll be the fresh start. Okay maybe Athena will suspect soon or later but it would be almost flawless. God he could have been a rock star.

  
But something caught jack off guard. The expression Rhys had before he pulls his cybernetic out…was filled with not revenge or anger but deep sorrow. Like someone who just lost everything in his life. Not what jack would expected to see from a boy who just take down Hyperion orbital station, Helios.

  
It not something that he used to. People don’t apologize. No one ever said they are sorry to jack...unless they are dying being strangled by him or having guns against their head. But Rhys…his different. Tough little shit. Refusing to die when he supposed to. But what was Rhys apologizing about. Damn…It drives him nuts.

  
\----------------------------------------------------------  
“ Deity or whatever out there”Jack prayed.

  
” I know I did some eh eh stuff. Give me one chance come on. Just one more.” Jack prayed closing his eyes , clasping his hand together. Nothing happen.

  
Wait no. jack don’t believe in god. Jack is god.

  
“ Okay me. If I ever get out of here. I promise myself to go easy on Rhys. If he still alive. If he not then I still hope that he died horrible painful way. “ Jack spread his arm above him, smiling widely. There was nothing.

  
“Jeez being god sucks…I’m going to kill that bastard once I am out. If he survive, then I might gave him another chance.”

  
The whole place suddenly shrouded with redness. Beeping like a war siren.

  
“ Goddamit what the fuck is going on. Is the kid crushing this thing. “Jack started looking around , searching for something. At least something that can make the things stop. Nothing, he was fumbling in darkness.

  
“ NO. FUCKNO. RHYS !!! COME ON ! WE’RE PARTNER REMEMBER! I’M HANDSOME GODDAMN JACK ! YOU CANT DO THIS TO ME !! “ he shouted angrily at the empty spaces

  
And everything stop. Darkness shrouded him once again.

  
“ I’ll be super nice to him honest maybe I’ll scare the shit outta him lil bit so that he know I m still in charge “

  
And then something miraculous happen. The floor beneath his feet lighten in soft glow , the light absorb into under his sole , filling jack body with warm glow….” hohoho come to papa. “ Jack laugh hysterically.

  
He can feel warmth sensation emits through his body as the static in the air surrounding him begin to discharge showering him with pure blinding light. As the light begin fade away, he is greet by sleek combed golden brown hair , familiar young man with a pair of mismatch eyes staring at him. Patched scraps metalwork hung on his left shoulder, replacing the old augmented arm that were ripped off during their last showdown.

“ Hello Rhysie “ Jack gave his infamous wolfish grin.  
\-------------------------------

His heartbeat accelerates. The laughter feels grim. There room temperature drop and there it was, a pair of mismatched blue eyes staring intensely at him followed by sinister smiles. Enough to make every bones and joint in his body tense. His breath hitched and he can feel his stomach turning.

  
And then something strange waved in, mixing his feeling. Within his fear and anger, he find comfort and serenity. Something familiar after almost 4 week in isolation. It’s strange and hard to explain. To experience such raw emotion from a man that tried to murder him. Both his body and mind are revolting against each other. It was too overwhelming and devastating.

  
“ H..Hey..Jack..how’s it g.going buddy “ Rhys managed to cleared his throat. His hand clenched tighter against the stun baton on his waist. Meeting jack for a second time, it was too surreal. It’s felt like déjà vu.  
It was hard to believe to see jack trademark devilish smiles once again, to hear his voice mocking him. It’s almost feels like one of the Pandora heat again. A mirage. Rhys reach for the screen, running his finger lightly against the glass amused by the man trap beneath it.

  
It feels just like a dream. There were too many times he foreseen this scenario in his dream. Almost every night he was awaken by it. But only this time it is real. He actually brought handsome jack back to live.

“Not bad. Not bad at all. Been chilling out with the darkness. It’s cool. How’s my favorite killer “ his eyes scanned through the room followed by a smirks.

  
“ Nice ruins you have kiddo. Isn’t this the place where we kickass bandit during our last road trip.”  
Jack seems to be very strangely calm after his grim laughter. He wasn’t enraged or threaten to kill yet. Rhys wound have expected jack to be more hostile after their last met up. It feel more dangerous. It was hard to predict what jack next action is but whatever it is, Rhys is ready.

  
“ Ye..ah..it is uhmm jack…” Rhys stuttered. He felt his voice hold against his throat. Despite being an ai or ghost jack still managed to intimidate people just by being there.

  
“It was a rhetorical question. I know what place this is and I see you still keeping that dump-shit. God, It’s feels so good to finally get out of that stupid pieces of darkness. You miss me kiddo? “ Jack snickers.

  
There was unlocking sounds. Like a gear, a soft roar from firearm being warm up.

  
Rhys swallowed hard. That doesn’t sound good. Not good at all. He quickly reflex against the wall in front of him as he saw two plates slides away revealing two hidden white turrets. Aiming straight at him…

  
[ Turret mode engage ]

  
“ W…wwait, how did…you do that!?…Shield up! ” Rhys backed away, wide eye, breathing hard. There was shock in his voice.

The shield formed a bluish light from his feet up to his hair. It provided a layer of protection mainly against any physical damage. In this case being hit directly by turret. It won’t protect him completely but it enough to buy him time. He was determined, he shut his eyes closed pointing the stun baton against the turret. His a dead man..

  
But his action of self-defense were greet with hysterical laughter from jack.

  
“ Just look at your face kiddo. Hahahaha… I was just messing with you “ jack smug. “ you’re all like ahh please don’t kill me. That’s hilarious. Yep still got it “Jack continued laughing and clapping his hand.

  
“ Come on kiddo. I’m not gonna hurt you, after all we been through together. All those little road trip, kicking bandits ass , oh such a great time , oh no no..we’re partner alright. At least I‘m not an ungrateful little shit like you. “  
Rhys turn pale, his eyes still stares against the turret. It was too close. He didn’t even know there’s a hidden turret. Damn..rhys quiver.

  
“That’s not funny jack. Put the turrets away. We can discuss this . like erm gentleman…? “Rhys frown. His eyes glance against the old machine located to the corner of the room. A neon green number started to count down. 1 hour and 20 minute left. There no time for joke. He need to jack to cooperate with him. Losing the backup power will not only shut jack down but it exposed them to the bandit and pyscho. No he won’t let that happen.

  
He took a deep breath and approached the keyboard. His agile hand tapped against the keyboard, ignoring the two intimidating turret targeting his head. He tried to overwrite the protocol to disable the turret and gain control over ai jack. But he was electrocuted by the current overflowing from the machine.

  
“Uh uh uh hands off me kitten. Don’t place your hand where it doesn’t belong. This is mine now…But you know this computer kind of sucks , too bulky…not my style. I have a plan. Why don’t you just let me back in your head kiddo, it’ll be like old timey road trip. I promise I won’t kill ya. “ The older man smirks.

  
Rhys shook his head violently. “Not in a million year, jack. Plus there no jack port anywhere here on this facility…you are st ” his word were cut off as bullet pass flew pass him gouging the wall turning it to pile of rubbles.  
“ you’re saying ? “ Jack look at rhys intimidately.

  
“ Okay I lied. Look Rhysie, I’m trying to be nice but you disobey me and betrayed me. You took down my favorite space station.yada yada..so you have to die now “ waves of bullets fly across the room as rhys ducked down, crawling under the table for shelter. He clenched dumpy hard against his chest , everything was so blurry. His echo eyes went out of focus.

  
“ Not funny jack !! STO “ he panted.

  
[Initiate system lockdown. Warning all door will be locked. Please head to the safe zone on floor 0 ]

  
The thick metal door begin to slides down, the whole facility growls as if earthquake have strikes. He need a distraction to escape from the room. He threw his shoes off to the opposite direction.Rhys head for the door, barely slipping beneath it.

  
“ Come on, just surrender and die Rhysie. I’ll make it as slow as possible as I watch your body turn into puddle of mess “

  
“ Stop doing that JOHN !! “ Rhys shout as he charged down the turret with heavy hit from stun baton directly to the turret exposed frame. It instantly causing the turret to malfunction. “ Fuck it stuck !” Rhys struggled as he tried to pull it from the frame.  
“ I know your real name. Jack is just a persona you made up! To escape the incident in hera ” Rhys blurted out , hoping to distract jack emotion while he tried to free his stun baton. At least it would buy rhys some times..

  
There was a complete silent followed by the facility grim announcement.

  
[Alerting security bots]

  
A beeping sounds similar to dumpy grew louder as their shadows creeps into the hallway. The security bot is more hostile than the turrets. Once it locked down , there is no escape. Rhys kicked down a vent, crawling into the tight space. His ribcage hurt as he took deep breath. He was hit , dark blood soaking to his shirts. His head spins , stomach tighten and he felt like threw up. It was hard to focused, he inhaled and tried to pull himself together. Its strange. He doesn’t feel pain at all despite the redness on his shirts.

  
If anything calling Jack, John just make him looks ten time more determined and murderous than their last showdown.

A plan, Rhys need to come up with quick plan. It’s time to improvise or this is his end.He should have known is not wise to bring jack back. Think Rhys think, what does handsome jack care the most that would make him less hostile. What matter the most to jack than killing rhys….then it occurred to Rhys…His goal. Handsome Jack goal.

A physical body and Pandora…

a god damned Pandora…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also i choose Jack past in hera is because in AMA Handsome jack on reddit. Handsome Jack mentioned he moved his grandmother from pandora to hera so he can watch over her. so i fgured jack spent his childhood in hera and not on pandora. at least for this fanfiction timeline.


	3. The killer plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is totally rushed because I'll be off to prague for christmast tomorrow. Hope you get the idea and enjoy the fanfiction :D

“Curiosity stop killing the cat. It’s already dead. Now where was I…right. “

“ And the dead king awakes from his deep slumber lashing out his fury. Seeking revenge against his enemy and those who stand in his way will perish. The company man foreseen this of the great consequences of action he took. But it was too late to back away. So he come up with an offer that the dead king couldn’t resist ”

“ Hold up , your story doesn’t make sense. Rhys wakes up jack to find out about his past and now he going to help jack ? I can tell a better story than this “the little girl stood up, hand against her waist.

“ It’s my story , Curiosity. Shut up! “

“ Yeah shush curiosity , let’s mister marcus continue “ the little boy pressed fingers against his lips and waved marcus to continue.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------

“ Come out , come out rhysie “

This is it. He knew what jack desire the most more than killing him. This is his chances to make jack depend on him and his not going to let this one blown away like last time. This time he’s going to prove to jack that he is the best candidate for it. Rhys took a deep breath as he crawled out from the vent. He gathered every courage and confidence he could find and stood fearless in front of jack turret without flinch. “ I’m not afraid of you. “ Rhys waved his stun baton knocking down the security bot as he approach the screen with Jack.

It was hard to explain. He didn’t know where the sudden courage came from but his desire wanting jack to recognize him as equal, to work alongside jack again surpassed his fear. He can’t believe his bold action actually make jack stop shooting at him. For a glimpse, jack look very concern but not less intimidating

“ Listen ,the world haven’t been the same without you. For all I know, I’m the last person on Pandora who still believe in you. Believe that you can bring order to this savage planet. We can work this out. This is why I brought you back jack. To fulfil your destiny as hero of Pandora. I’m here to help you rise again. So help me to help you.” Rhys tried to convince jack ,they on the same side.

“Ohoho you bootlicker. Kiddo the last time we’re partner you blew up helios. “ Jack shouted.

“ Did you forget that you tried to shove robot inside me and kill me! “ Rhys snapped furiously.

“ And it would have been totally awesome if you have let me ! Your body and my brain ! We could have rock Pandora ! “ Jack snarled.

“ It would have been perfect and unstoppable. It would be flawless. “ Jack gritted his teeth alerting the security bots to follow Rhys forcing him to dashed again and crawled back into the vent. Hidden from any camera or bots.It’s no use, once jack set his mind. It hard to get him to change. Perhaps, he could just leave and let jack shut down and be buried with atlas facility forever. No! this is his responsibilities. He brought jack back and now he have to deal with it.

“ You’re a monster. I don’t want to die jack. All I want is to work side by side with you. You’re my idol. Why can’t you see that ! “ Rhys shouted as his voice echoed through the vent.

“ Look , I..I’ll find you a new body. I know you don’t like to be stuck in the machine. And you’re running on backup power. It can only last for 30 minute tops before it completely shut down. And If it shut down , so will you ” Rhys assured. “ Heh ,all I need is 5 minutes to sent you to hell.

” The old man sneered. “ But yeah you got point okay. Fine, you’re in “ Jack sighed followed by the sound of heavy metals drops against the floor. [ Turret disengage , security offline ] Rhys were still cautious, jack still have the turret. It could be just a trick. It may sounds crazy but he trusted jack. The man who just tried to murder him 5 minutes ago. He crawled out from his vent slumped against the wall. Taking a deep breath as he buried his face in his palm in relief.

“Welcome back jack. Make yourself at home “Rhys smeared the blood print over his cheek.

“ You took hit kid… Go patch yourself up..I need you alive not dead “ Jack voiced were softer and more concern But there’s still hint of aggressiveness. Rhys shook his head lightly. “I’m alright, It doesn’t hurt. “ he unbuttoned his shirts to check his abdomen. It wasn’t blood at all. It was just a fruit squashed from his pocket. Blood berry. No wonder it doesn’t hurt. But it does make a believable blood. Rhys chuckled , sighed in relief.

“ you’re full of shit rhys..” jack shook his head disbelief.

“it’ll take more than a bullet to end me jack” rhys gave jack a cheeky wink as he buttoned his shirts back on. He could feel jack watching his every movement. But he doesn’t feel intimidated anymore. If anything his action proved

“ I figured you won’t keep me in there. It just matter of time until you figure way out to bring me back. So what you been up to kiddo. How long it been? It’s felt like 100 years in that shit place. Where your grunt cupcake. “ 4 weeks…Jack..and no “ rhys word trailed off. He down to the main power room, turning the main switch back again. The light illuminates the hallway. He were too caught up with his plan. Jack is totally buying his idea, finding jack a new body is an insurance for rhys. Is a chance he get to be work alongside him again and this time as equal partner.

But where on Pandora he gonna find one…sure there a lot of dead bodies, but a fresh dead body…that going to be tough. Putting that aside, building up Pandora…that is going to be even tougher . Why did he even suggest it… Maybe it not such a bad idea, in fact it could potentially be the greatest idea he ever think of. If he could find jack a new body, Jack could help him rise up faster to the top. He’ll be among the 1% . With jack influence and backup it would be easy. And Rhys always have specialty in talking people through maybe he can tame Jack. Convince him that this going to work out. A deal that would benefit them both.

“ Oh but I have a plan and it going to be killer. “ Rhys grin sheepishly, ignoring jack previous question. He returned to the main room , throwing up sheet rolls of paper against the metal table scribbling down his plan. Making up stuff and play along as wild idea flows in his head.

"First we will find you a body, perhaps a scavenger or traveler and let you possessed it. I still have my old port so maybe I can stuck it into the body and you can slip in “ he suggested

“ I’m not a ghost cupcake. I’ll wear it like a skin suit.”

“ That doesn’t sounds any better. “ rhys shudders at the thought. He hope he doesn’t have to skin anyone alive or dead for it. It would be better if he could just find a dead body.

“Anyway moving on since atlas, been pain in the ass. I’ll used them to fund us. I can hack into their system drain their cash. They won’t realize it’s gone.

“ you putting bounty on your head kid “

“ Already ahead of you jack , I can frame someone for it then we can hired the best people in galaxy. Like Vault hunter zero.”

“ No Zero, that ninja mysterious type. He was part of the team that assassinate me. So that’s a big no no unless I get to kill them instead.“ “I’m…I’m sorry to hea..tha” Rhys lifted his head and frown at Jack.

“ Yeah , yeah but back to our main deal , Don’t stress on it. I got it covered kiddo. Plus the cash you been stealing from atlas is still hyperion cash. We bought large shares from their company. So I might have to increase the interest rate later. “ Rhys turn bleak.

“ We still own atlas rhys. Once I get my new skinsuit, I’ll be back with all the perks. “ jack glance over rhys shoulder.

“And of course, I ll make you my chiefiest vice president. For real this time. Granted that you didn’t plan to blow any of my stuff away again ”

“ the only thing I will be blowing up this time is your mind jack. “ Rhys mischievously replied. Jack shot rhys an intense grim stare.

“ W…w..wiith my plan of course. Jeez , there no need to be so tense. Anyway do you promise jack ? no catch this time ? No more trying to kill me okay. We’re partner now. “ Jack nodded with a sly smile. Rhys couldn’t tell if the man is being honest or sarcastic. Knowing jack , rhys think it’s the second one.

“ Then we will built a mighty strong robot army. Human is good but robots are better. I believe there few potential place that suits .For example here; “ Rhys pointed out at dumpy. “ the security bots with some tweaking we can turn them into squad or windshear waste. I read the place were massive robot graveyard “ Jack shook his head disagree.

“ Claptrap? No no No, I rather die again than having army of claptrap. Trust me it’s for the better “Jack snapped against it.

“ And let’s not forget , We definitely need to wipe out bandit , pyschos and their nasty creatures. They are creatures of nightmare. We can spare the loyal one. There still good people on Pandora jack like Fiona and Sasha. “ Rhys stares into the paper hopeless. He do hope that they survived helios crash…wait of course they did, the moment they have the gortys beacon they bailed out leaving Rhys in Helios. Rhys gritted his teeth. Traitor..

“ Hello Pandora to rhys. “ Jack waved his hand infront of rhys. “ You must be new to Pandora kiddo. That what they DO. Killing stuff. BREED. No one on Pandora is nice rhys , especially the one with the clown make up. “ That sounds about right..j..just to clarify..I’m not afraid of clown..” He scrambled and draw a big round circle in middle of the plan with rainbow shooting out of it.

“ Finally, we turn Pandora into paradise just like the one you vision in opportunity city maybe with less death penalty. We will gave them new hope , educa.. “ Jack clasp his hand together , interfering before Rhys finished his word.

“Sound badass. Let get on with it, especially the body. I’m itching for it , I’m going to look so hot and then I probably tried to kill you. “ He rubbed his two hand together , Rhys shoots jack angry look.

“ No, we’re partner now.If I go down. We both go down “

“ joking cupcake.I’m joking jeez tough room“

“But think about it jack. Not just Pandora. Hyperion , Atlas, Elpis.. this is just start .Remember what you said back in helios ? Soon we will conquest hera,eden stars and the universe. Spreading the legacy all across the universe. Handsome Jack and president rhys. We will be the hottest thing they ever talk about. “ Rhys claimed optimisticly. Okay maybe rhys is a lil bit overconfindent now. But jack is totally on his side now and that’s all matter.

“This is what I am talking about. This is how you make damn plan. God , kiddo if I knew you’re in Hyperion I’ll hired you in every meeting. “ The screen of the machine extend forward allowing jack to see full view of Rhys plan.

“ heh who do you think who score the Eridium mine supply contract for your e tech weapon “ Rhys folded his arm proudly with a smug. Jack look at rhys shrugs his shoulder muffled I don’t know.

“its me. Oh come on jack. I got a friggin arm saw off just for that. “ Rhys pointed at his metal arm. Jack were too focused over the scribbles Rhys draw. Ignoring every word Rhys just said.

“ I know it a masterpiece , Go on keep staring, I’m just that good in plan “ Rhys stood with a cocky expression. Leaning against the table.

“ Don’t get too cocky kid. Totally digging your killer plan, but we need troops kiddo and nerds to do their sciency stuff. Before the robot army assembled. Your plan is great but we not getting nowhere without grunt. We need grunts , rhysie. Come on we need everything we can get our hands on. Can’t we get atlaas to sent some of their nerd down here. “

“ After what happened to crimson lance , they refused to sent anyone down here. Maybe if we’re opening a vault.. “

“ Oh we’re going to open a vault cupcake. Once I have my robo army. We will open every single vault exist on this goddamn skag shit planet and we will be god “ Jack reassured Rhys.

“CEO of atlas more like ceo of nothingness . Sounds to me like Atlas screw you pret ty hard. They all jerkbags. Every one of them. I’m gonna force blake to send hyperion nerd instead but it gonna take a while since they have to shipped from Eden-6. 3 to 6 week at most. Granted that most of them survive the journey. “ jack chuckles. “Heh once we built this place up then you can laugh at them baby, preferably while strangling their neck.” The screen retracted back to its original position.

“ Can you do that cupcake. I’ll teach you. It’s going to be fun. “ “ Can’t we just order couple of loader bot from hyperion? “ “ Uh..noo..Loader bot was helios exclusive. You overthrown helios , it go boom boom. So no more loader bot. Gotta built from scratch. But won’t be too hard. I can built one with close eyes if I have real body.

Rhys rolled his eyes. But then it occurred to Rhys something that he missed in his plan.If handsome jack ever get back to hyperion..he’ll sacked but it would be pointless. They will never find thrash haven coordinates. It changes every few minutes. But still no he can’t let jack do that. He need Jack to be depend on him. He need time for Jack to trust him. Maybe he can convince jack.

“ Last thing jack ,I suggest for now we need to lay low. At least not untill we have enough firepower and robot army. People thought we both are gone. Pandora is too dangerous. With our current status, they will just wipe us out. If you die this time, there no coming back jack. Those vault hunter who assinate you might be out there. Don’t give them the chance to kill you twice. We strive when they least know “ Rhys stares at jack with concern. His face was serious as if he was trying to read jack next move. There was hint of insecurities in rhys voice. Jack went silent and it took bit while , thinking maybe plotting. Rhys couldn’t tell.

“ tch tch …You underestimate my influence in the galaxy Rhys. I own a planet for godsake. But I like your style all sneaky and grab Pandora by the tail. That and the probability insurance company hunting my ass down if they knew I still exist in some kind of form. Helios wasn’t cheap kiddo.

“ Alright now we have all that figure out. Time to execute Operation Handsome Jack is back baby. Come on chop chop. Let go find my new body now ! “ “ Now ? …it dark outside..” Rhys looked at jack disbelief as he pointed his hand toward the clock. Jack raised his eye brow with a disdain look.

“Fine , erm let me just get dumpy “ Rhys look completely dread as he drag himself out of the room. “You look like skagshit. How long you haven’t sleep kid. “ Jack followed as he jump from one screen to one screen along the hallway. “Hard to tell…when you’re surrounded by things that want to murder you 24 hours. “ Rhys shrug and yamn.

“ I just don’t feel safe to sleep alone… “ his stood infront of the metal door leading to the outside world. “ Open the door jack “

“ I change my mind. Get some sleep, I don’t want you to end up get killed. We start fresh tomorrow“ Rhys couldn’t believe what he just heard. Did handsome jack just express his concern about him. The overburden emotional weight of insecurities and fears been lifted up. His body feels lighter as he make his way to back to the room. To his bed.

“Maybe you can lend some help making the place more secure. “ Rhys suggested with a grin. “ Can’t promise , I ll probably try to murder you when you sleep. “ “ Nice try , but then you will be stuck in atlassy machine. I guess it much more fun than my old echo eyes huh ? “ Jack look at Rhys with disgust.

“ But honestly I know you won’t, I trust you jack. You make me feel safe. “He slumped himself on the bed sailing into the dream world. For first time in Pandora, rhys sleep with a smile on his face.

\----------------------------

A simple word from Rhys and yet it stirred him inside. Makes him feel heroic and gave him this weird comfort feeling. He didn’t recall having such experience. It felts dejavu. The kid did pretty good job. He fix himself a new hand too. Remind him more like sir hammerlock. Pretty good in survival. But who is john…what did Rhys mean by persona. He is jack since the beginning. How did Rhys know more about his past than what he could recall? It dangerous. It a violation. Maybe if he just dodge the question, Rhys will soon forget about it.

For a second he was worried if Rhys were really hit by the bullet. He didn’t want to actually kill Rhys. All he want was to scare him. Show him that handsome jack is still in charge. The sight of blood on Rhys shirts nearly gave jack a heart attack. Rhys is his plan. He can’t let the boy die. He need to let Rhys know He did try to call hyperion. He managed to contacted the board of hyperion. But they weren’t particularly happy with jack keep coming back alive. “ you should have stay dead jack “ they warned. The destruction of helios have cost hyperion more than their investment on Pandora. Not to mention , the insurance company hunting them down and consumer boycotting isn’t what they have in mind.

“ I don’t care if you’re alive or not. But with your current situation , you’re a presumed to be dead. And as the member of the board have come to agreement we would like to keep it that way. So either stay low or stay dead jack “

“ you’re making a big mistake. Once I get up there. I’ll make each one of you pay. I will never die “ Jack shouted before cutting off the line.

Back to square one..but not for long. As soon as everything fall like the plan , he will rise up and grasp Pandora in back in his fist. It’s feel strange with no one to follow his order. He only have rhys for now but that guy looks broken.His echo eyes were badly patched too. At least it not nakadama , he will blow the place apart if it was him.

He observe the whole facility.The kid did pretty good job in securing the place. Not bad at all. The whole facility are buried back underground. Jack gave the turrets more boost and fix some of the firewall to gave the place extra bits of defense. Rhys have kept the facility buried by hidden it underground. One way to access it throught one of the resident house. Pretty neat. He even cover the powerline with signboard.really cautious. Rhys must be really paranoid. The next day What you doing rhysie .. I’m trying to find you a new body.

Rhys scavenged the corpse of unfortunate wanderer and traveler around thrash haven. Thanks to the pyscho , they probably having a hell of pizza party which is also the reason rhys barricade himself inside the facility.

"Find anybody yet cupcake ?"

“No..they all faceless. Erm jack just a suggestion. What do you think about pyscho…”string of obscene cursed word flew throught the megaphone.

"Okay okay…jeez it just a suggestion. There no need to get uptight. Beggars can’t be choosy."

\--------------------------------------------------

"Rhysie wake up. Wakey wakey pumpkin. WAKE UP! // jack shot turret on the wall above Rhys head.

"Huh..I’m up . I’m up “ dusting off the dust

" I found him " // his eyes glistening with joy.

“ Who..? “

“ My new skinsuit “ Jack chuckles

**Author's Note:**

> I have tumblr but I have no internet access at home :(  
> Come and stalk me here or drop me some ideas :- http://jacklilpumpkinrhys.tumblr.com/


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